Viverridae

Viverridae[2]
Temporal range: 34–0 Ma Eocene to Recent[1]
A mosaic of four small photos of viverrids in trees
Viverrids, including (top left to bottom right), species of Paradoxurus, Genetta, Paguma and Arctictis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Infraorder: Aeluroidea
Parvorder: Viverroidea
Family: Viverridae
Gray, 1821
Type genus
Viverra
Linnaeus, 1758
Genera
Distribution of living viverrid species

Viverridae is a family of small to medium-sized, feliform mammals. The viverrids (/vˈvɛrɪdz/) comprise 33 species placed in 14 genera. This family was named and first described by John Edward Gray in 1821.[3] Viverrids occur all over Africa, southern Europe, and South and Southeast Asia, across the Wallace Line.[4]

Almost all viverrids outside the subfamily Genettinae are commonly called civets. The species of the subfamily Genettinae are known as genets and oyans. The word viverridae comes from the Latin viverra 'ferret', but ferrets are in a different family, the Mustelidae.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gaubert2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). "Family Viverridae". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 548–559. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  3. ^ Gray, J. E. (1821). "On the natural arrangement of vertebrose animals". London Medical Repository. 15 (1): 296–310.
  4. ^ Pocock, R. I. (1939). "Family Viverridae". The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Vol. Mammalia. – Volume 1. London: Taylor and Francis. pp. 330–332.